1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to a transportable storage container. More particularly, the present invention allows a single person to easily store and transport tools and equipment and to easily move the storage container throughout a job-site.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most construction workers are intimately familiar with “gang boxes.” Gang boxes are storage containers that, typically, are durable, secure, and heavy—particularly when loaded. Typically, each trade, or even foreman, at a construction project will have a gang box that is used to store tools, consumable materials, project drawings and plans, and other items that are required to be secured and safeguarded during the period that the gang box remains on the job-site while the gang box's owner is away from the job-site. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,838,586 to Tennison discloses an electrician's gang box that includes box structure which renders the box inaccessible to malefactors for the purpose of destroying the padlock.
However, a significant disadvantage of gang boxes like the one disclosed in the Tennison patent is that such boxes are heavy and difficult to transport. For example, a typical gang box is constructed of metal and is between 5 and 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 3 to 4 feet tall. The gang box is then typically filled with tools and equipment that can easily weigh hundreds of pounds. To move a gang box from one job-site to another, or, to or from a construction company's office, requires the following process: 1) the gang box is unloaded of tools and equipment; 2) the box is physically lifted by three to four persons into the back of an appropriate vehicle; and 3) the tools and equipment are reloaded into the gang box. Upon arrival at the new destination, this process must be reversed. Obviously, this process is time and labor intensive.
Additionally, once on a jobsite, moving a typical gang box between locations at the jobsite, or to different floors of a building, involves a similar process of unloading the gang box, moving the gang box, and then reloading the gang box. Moreover, on many jobsites it is not possible to move gang boxes around the job site because typical gang boxes are too wide to fit through many standard door openings.
Given these inefficiencies, there is a need for a more efficient system that is of simple design and construction, that is inexpensive to manufacture, and that allows for the secure storage of tools and other valuables on the job site while providing a storage device that is easily transported, manageable by one person, and able to easily move to different locations on a job site.
The below table summarizes the reference numbers and associated elements shown in the above drawings:
100storage container101top102frame extension103front wall104side wall105rear wall106hinge107pin108coupler109bottom201suspension202Afirst wheel well202Bsecond wheel well203lock pocket204Afirst castor204Bsecond castor205castor leg206castor leg receiver207lock tab208wheel system209shackle210castor assembly300frame301Afirst wheel301Bsecond wheel302Afirst longitudinal member302Bsecond longitudinal member303second transverse member304first transverse member305axle306third longitudinal member